1. Media literacy is when a person consumes media and understands not only the message, but the influences and implications or hidden purposes of a message. I initially thought that media literacy meant being able to understand the meaning of media messages. However, I now understand that media literacy not only understands a message, but also knows the impact it should have on the consumer, what the sender of the message is trying to convey, and what it is actually conveying. Media must also be consumed in a targeted and attentive manner. Consuming media out of habit or in a state of aimless automaticity leaves the consumer open to the attenuation of messages that they would normally ignore. Now that we fully understand what media literacy entails, we are able to put it into practice for ourselves. While we could use co-viewing or active mediation to help spread media literacy, not everyone is willing to receive media literacy, it is better to refer people to classes or groups that teach media literacy so that they can search for it if they wish. By telling others about media literacy, we can hopefully raise people's awareness and increase media literacy in our community.2. The first level is the cognitive effect. This level is essentially planting information in our minds. An example of this would be getting information from a textbook and turning that information into knowledge. Attitudinal level can influence our values, opinions and beliefs. For example, I might go to see a movie that I don't think will be good and walk away thinking it's the best movie ever. Emotional effects occur after being exposed to media that tap into our emotions. If I'm feeling unmotivated, I'll probably turn on the Rocky soundtrack or something to make me... middle of paper... make myself aware of the vast amount of messages, both apparent and hidden, that I'm bombarded with. It made me aware that whenever I come into contact with the media, intentionally or unintentionally, the message is often still received and can have an influence on me. Now that I am aware of this fact, I can be more proactive in my media consumption and use it to maximum benefit. Furthermore, this course taught me about the physiological, emotional and cognitive effects that media can have on me and how the structure of knowledge works. Ultimately, it helped me better understand the education system and how some of the concepts learned in the classroom have been or could be applied to increase student learning. I finally learned not only that a course like this exists, but now I can also explain what media literacy is and hopefully get others interested in courses like this.